This study has been conducted as a literary analysis of four chapter books for children in the early years of compulsory school: Magister Tutnäsa, Vilken fullträff, Astrakan, Sune och tjejhatarligan, and Alva och Dum-Julia. The aim has been to analyse four teacher characters from a gender perspective. The study has focused on the teachers’ personal characteristics and whether these are typically female or male. Another aim has been to study how the character reinforces or runs against stereotyped gender patterns. Stephens’s and Andræ’s matrices of femininity and masculinity in literature have been used. The result shows that all the teachers in the analysed books are portrayed in a nuanced way. The characters display examples of both gender stereotypes and gender-transgressing characteristics. Stereotyped gender patterns are something that school is supposed to counteract. This can be done by working with literature. For this reason, another aim has been to show how teachers can purposefully use literature in the school’s work for gender equality.

Gender is one of the central organizing principles around which social and corporate innovation revolves. The multinational Ghanaian mining is dominated by men and masculinity cultures. To gain an adequate understanding of this phenomenon, it is prudent to explore its gendered nature. This thesis reflects consciously upon the pre-entry, organizational and sociocultural barriers affecting the effective participation of women in mine jobs. And beyond the barriers, it examines what changes have occurred, occasioning a shift in gender dynamics, leading to an increasing number of women participation in the industry? The current thesis adopts a case study method, deploying a mix of quantitative and qualitative approaches; administered questionnaires, conducted individual interviews, observations, archival documents, and focus group discussions with respondents in four mining companies and a mining and technology university in Ghana. The AMOS–based structural equation modeling approach was used to analyze the quantitative data, while thematic and discourse analysis was employed in analyzing the qualitative narratives of the respondents. Results of the thesis point to the social construction of gender in science, engineering and technology education as a pre-entry barrier. Also, a complex web of male-dominance, gender bias, role models and mentorship constraints, coupled with unfriendly family work policies were noted organizational barriers. In furtherance, common prejudices, perceptions and stereotyped notions of gender roles in the mines constituted noted sociocultural factors constraining effective participation of women in mine work. However beyond the pre-entry, organizational and sociocultural barriers, the current thesis intuits a phenomenon of a ‘women’s revolution’ in the mines, witnessing collective efforts from Women in Mining Ghana as well as the mine workers’ organizations and allied institutions adopting gender strategic measures, such as the ‘ore solidarity,’ gender mainstreaming in admission programmes as well as gender-driven mining initiatives aimed at re-engineering or striking a shift in gender dynamics in the mine jobs of Ghana. Consequently, the classic and continuous male-dominance in Ghanaian mines constitute a considerable concern for mine work organizational development, with practical implications for the mining industry, employment, and  labor relation practices as well as public policy in Ghana. Therefore, affirmative action is recommended for gender deconstruction and promotion of gender democracy. Indeed this move for inclusivity will engender poverty eradication work towards achieving organizational modernization, their global competitiveness and an assurance for gender-driven social innovative mining.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal. / Pour respecter les droits d'auteur, la version électronique de cette thèse ou ce mémoire a été dépouillée, le cas échéant, de ses documents visuels et audio-visuels. La version intégrale de la thèse ou du mémoire a été déposée au Service de la gestion des documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

RFSU- Do you want to? -A multimodal analysis of the RFSU’s (the Swedish Association for Sexuality Education) school material to encourage mutual sexuality The purpose of this study is to identify the semiotic resources, by using a multimodal analysis, that the RFSU uses to communicate the creation of relationships between participants to express their aim. Furthermore, to examine the basic thoughts that the RFSU has about standards due to gender should be eliminated, and how these become evident in the films. The starting point for the essay is questions about how the RFSU creates a relationship with the audience through the semiotic resources, as well as the manner in which it is possible to derive the RFSU’s basic thoughts about breaking the standards and working towards stereotypical gender roles. The material I examine consists of two short films belonging to a collection of school supplies under the name titled ”Vill du?” (Eng. ”Do you want to?”) that the RFSU has created for the education of secondary school students. The method is based on a sociosemiotic perspective where the material is analyzed by a composition analysis, an ideational analysis and an interpersonal analysis. The dialogues are analyzed based on the systemic functional grammar and the discussion of the results and how they are linked to the theory that there is a heteronormativity in today's society, which the RFSU wants to break through. The conclusion is that RFSU uses semiotic resources such as young participants, communication tools, such as: Skype, computers and phones, and other typical youth-related things. The most prominent result of the analysis that is actively breaking the standards against the heterosexual norm is that one film, ”Gorillan”, which works against the stereotypical gender roles, where it is the male who is subjected to sexual harassment; and the second film works against the norm of heterosexuality as it is about two gay guys.

This thesis deals with the current functions and roles of fathers in the family. It focuses on identifying the importance of fathers for child development and education. Pursues opportunities can contribute to the family and the participation rate of fathers in child care. It also deals with the phenomenon of new fathers and fathers on parental leave. The aim of this work is to comprehensively capture aspects of the paternal role in relation to the child from his early age and to map the role of fathers in the family while the child is of preschool age.

This research investigated the manner in which a group of African male students perceive and construct gender equality in the work place. A sample of 19 African male students within the University of Witwatersrand student population was used. The participants were aged between 19 and 30 years. This specific age range was chosen on the grounds that most students in this age range would have already formed specific views regarding gender equality. Individual and focus group interviews were the main methods of data collection; both types of interviews were conducted with this varied sample of African male students. The study was qualitative in nature and it employed thematic content analysis as a method of data analysis. Key themes were identified and discussed.The results indicated the contradictory nature of how men understand and accept equality. This was evident in how men tried to curb and undermine the empowerment of women in a manner that helped to advance the agenda of men. The participants used a varied number of strategies to try and argue for male power and control. These strategies were utilised as deemed contextually relevant by the men. This was especially relevant in how men were seen to negotiate their roles within the workplace in a manner that would align or help them be seen to be in favour of equal opportunities in the workplace yet in private and within their homes they were seemingly against the whole notion altogether.

This study focuses on the mechanisms of women behaviour in salary negotiation, inparticular the counter-stereotypical gender dilemma, a concept this study develops. The dilemma is based on a conflict between the woman role (with characteristics such assubmissiveness, friendliness and communality) and the negotiator role (with conflicting male characteristics such as being strong, being dominant, being assertive and being rational) and is defined as the dilemma of whether to act in accordance to the gender stereotypical role or counter the stereotypical gender role in salary negotiations. The purpose of this study is thus to deepen the understanding of women behaviour in wage negotiations and in the long run contribute to pay equality between men and women. The research question is: how do women experience the counter-stereotypical gender dilemma when deciding salary claims in salary negotiations? 12 women working in white collar – female dominated professions were interviewed. The findings showed that women experienced salary negotiations as in conflict with their sense of self, this sense of self included many characteristics of the stereotypical woman role. This conflict caused women to lower their salary claims as they found high salary claims to be in conflict with who they are. The participating woman also expected backlash for going outside the woman role and claim high salary, this also caused women to lower their salary claims. However the findings also showed that women developed strategies to deal with this dilemma and contexts that mitigated the dilemma where identified.

In this essay, J.K. Rowling’s series about Harry Potter is analyzed by the use of feminist theories and gender studies. The main aim of the essay is to examine how Hermione Granger is portrayed. The analysis is based on three of the novels, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’sstone, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. This essay argues that Hermione, in the first novel, is depicted as a stereotyped female character, but that she develops and grows over the course of time, which leads her character to deviate from the traditional gender stereotypes. The results are supported by different examples from the novels, which relate to the used theories and previous research. / I denna uppsats analyseras J.K. Rowlings serie om Harry Potter med hjälp av feministiska teorier och genusstudier. Huvudsyftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka hur Hermione Granger är porträtterad. Analysen är baserad på tre av romanerna Harry Potter and the Philosopher’sstone, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban och Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Uppsatsen argumenterar att Hermione, i första romanen, är skildrad som en stereotypisk kvinnlig karaktär, men att hon under tidens gång utvecklas och växer vilket leder till att hennes karaktär senare avviker från de traditionella könsstereotyperna. Resultaten stöds av olika exempel från texterna som relaterar till de använda teorierna och tidigare forskning.

This study addresses questions of gender and genre in early writing by drawing on systemic linguistic theory, It is a longitudinal case study that compares the writing development of two children, a boy and a girl/ who learned to write in classrooms that adopted an approach to writing known in Australia as 'process writing1, The children's written texts were analysed using the systemic functional grammar as developed by MAK, Hallidey and the models of genre and register as proposed by J,R, Martin. The children were followed for the first two and a half years of their schooling, from the first day of kindergarten to the middle of grade two. They were observed weekly during the daily ‘writing time’ and all texts were collected. Although the children were ostensibly 'free’ to determine both the writing topics and text types they produced, systemic analysis revealed that: 1) the majority of texts written were of one genre, the Observation genre, in which the children reconstructed their personal experience with family and friends and offered an evaluation of it. 2) a significant pattern of gender differences occurred within this genre, such that the boy reconstructed experience in terms of the male cultural stereotype of being an active participant in the world, while the girl reconstructed experience in terms of the female stereotype of being a more passive observer of experience. It is the strength of systemic linguistic analysis that it revealed how the choices the children made in language were constrained by a number of social and cultural contexts, including: a) the teacher's theoretical orientation to literacy; b) the models of spoken and written language available to the children; and c) the ideology of gender in the culture. In particular, the analysis made visible how children appropriate the meanings of their culture and socialise themselves into gender roles by constructing the ideology of gender in their writing. The study contributes to an understanding of genres by offering a revised description of the Observation genre, which derives from the Observation Comment genre originally identified by Martin and Rothery (1981). It also raises a number of implications for teacher training and classroom practice, including the need for: 1) increased teacher consciousness about gender and genre, especially an understanding that choices in language are socially constructed 2) a critical reassessment of the notion of 'free topic choice’ promoted by 'process writing' pedagogy, a practice which may limit choice and tacitly support the gender status quo.

<p>The Sound and the Fury is William Faulkner’s story of the Compson family’s downfall in the American South during the early 20th century. The novel illustrates the impact on the cultural identity of the South of strictly defined social roles and the tension they created in the aftermath of slavery and defeat in the Civil War. In my analysis, I have chosen to focus on gender issues, especially in their Southern manifestation. The Compsons’ daughter, Caddy, figures prominently in the sons’ narratives, but is only portrayed through their perceptions and memories. My aim is to determine Caddy’s significance in the novel by exploring her relationships with her brothers, as seen through their eyes, and how she is characterized by them. In Benjy’s narrative, I examine her actions as a little girl in light of the Eve myth and the icon of the virgin mother. Quentin’s obsession with Caddy's sexuality as a teenager reveals the implications of associating female sexuality with death, the role of language in reproducing and combating established gender power structures, and the impact of traditional gender roles on women and men. Jason’s binary categorization of women as virgins or whores turns the few glimpses of Caddy as a mother into that of a woman treated as a commodity of exchange. In each of their narratives, Caddy is a dynamic character whose words, body, and actions expose prevailing social and gender power struggles. By conjuring her presence through her absence, her brothers reveal the depth and destructiveness of the social imperatives that underlie their attempts to control her. I suggest that Caddy’s role in the novel is to disrupt the brothers’ narratives and challenge the underlying Southern social and gender constructs that imbue them.</p>